This PhD project investigates why many people with hearing loss struggle to understand speech at higher sound levels, especially in noisy environments—a phenomenon known as rollover. In clinical practice, hearing aid amplification is commonly prescribed based on the softest sounds a listener can here, whereas higher-level sounds are neglected. This approach leaves important individual differences unaccounted for.
To address this, we develop new diagnostic tests and fitting strategies. Using speech tests, loudness ratings, and other experimental measures, our goal is to find effective ways to characterize how people perceive higher-level sounds. We then apply these insights to improve hearing aid fitting –specifically, through an approach called sweet-spot compression, which seeks to balance speech understanding and listening comfort optimally for individual listeners.
Overall, this project is expected to improve our understanding of sound perception at high sound levels and to lead to more personalized hearing aid fittings that can ensure good speech understanding and listening comfort in noisy environments.
Main Supervisor:
, Professor
Co-Supervisor:
, Assistant Professor
